And we still love him...sniff. We never should have dumped such a lovely, dependable bloke for that smooth talking latin lover who promised us a jet-set lifestyle. Nice Nige wouldn't have hopped it as soon as he got a better offer from some rich tart in the capital.
The shame of it is that being sacked from Southampton has effectively ruined any chance of him managing in the Premier League club. I was watching a Premier League match last year where the two centre backs pushed wide when there was a goal kick (might have been Everton); the commentator was describing the move as something new and tactically astute and I thought, hang on, Nigel was doing that back in Division One. I'm not going to speculate about how we would have done if he'd staid at Saints but given how inexperienced he was at that level we were definitely heading in the right direction.
Yes, he's been brilliant since he left us. Let's start the season with Billy Sharp too. C'mon guys, really. This? Again?
Haha! Billy Sharp may be a stretch too far. I'm not that cuckoo I'm not being sour, and I'm not going back - it's something I've always stood by (does the Avatar give it away enough?!). I've always believed we were going along at the appropriate level. I just thought it was strange we sacked a double-promotion winning manager halfway into his first premier league season. Look I don't care who agrees/disagrees. I'm not even particularly bitter, it's just how I feel and have always felt.
We were still progressing steadily under Adkins, that's for sure, but obviously Cortese didn't think it was quite enough. My view of it is that I'm not sure he'd ever have got our team playing as defensively secure as we were last season, and I think we'd have remained a little lightweight, albeit plucky and positive. People hate Pochettino right now but there's no denying his pressing style improved us, and that is the way football is heading. Adkins was often guilty of giving opposition too much time to think.
Yeah, I feel the same way, but many don't seem to. He left us for a good reason, in my opinion, and gave us fair warning. Also, yes, he will be a top manager.
I think progress would have been steady under Adkins and, with the benefit of hindsight, we probably wouldn't be in this situation now because the likes of Lallana would still be under the radar. Maybe, we were a tad impatient for the success.
It was a heady ride whilst we were on it. And I don't think we've regressed back to where we were previously, though time will tell.
I must of missed this, unless it is solely down to the fact that he strung us along as he weighed up his options?
He said he wouldn't continue to manage Saints if Cortese left. He committed himself to the end of the season and, being the optimists we are, we forgot about that statement and assumed he was staying. Do you really think he was stringing us along as he weighed up his options? Or do you think perhaps manager appointments take time and Spurs were interviewing multiple candidates?
May have said that before, but the board believed he was staying. If someone told me there was no rush for a new contract because he still had a year on the old one (and repeated it ad nauseum to the press), I would believe he meant to see the old contract out, even if he might not sign another one. You usually judge someone by what they said last, not by what they said historically.
